NEXTBMS is to achieve a best-in-class advanced BMS hard- and software solution concerning technical performance, adaptiveness, and cost, for first life perspective as well as end-of-life (second life) management.
The overall objectives of NEXTBMS are:
1) Increased battery utilisation with relation to operational limits (i.e. increasing the battery's usable SoC window, increasing its maximum full equivalent cycles, enabling fast charging at low and high outside temperatures) and overall energy throughput over lifetime (incl. first and second life, and recycling).
2) Shortened the time-to-market for new battery packs, operating with new and novel battery chemistries, by means of scalability and fast parameterisation of battery cell models with only minimal a priori knowledge of the characterisation of the cells.
3) Maintaining the high level of safety and reliability status of battery systems especially in enhanced operation conditions and during end-of-life management incl. second life applications.
4) Demonstrated enhanced BMS performance via a single battery module with complete functionality.
NEXTBMS will for the first time enable consistent simulation of electrochemical phenomena in battery management. It will use advanced physics-based models which run partly on the on-board BMS and partly in the cloud. AI models will be used to adapt parameters of the physics-based model and to analyse the big data on the cloud. This ultimately leads to improved physical and safety related battery state estimations during operation. These more precise internal cell states and derived overall battery system states help to enhance battery utilisation and to minimize internal energy losses. This directly improves the BMS calibration boundaries that are currently set with conservative values leading to suboptimal utilization.
Pathway to impact:
On the economic impact, the first step for the industrial partners in the two years after the project is to raise the advanced BMS to TRL 5-7 and from there to TRL 8 and 9. This involves amongst others the extensive demonstration of prototypes in a relevant environment, qualifying the implementation of the NEXTBMS in the design and production of future battery cells and packs. Furthermore, the project partners will establish commercial relations with ≥ 5 suppliers and ≥ 3 OEMs, among others for the licensing of IP and technology and will expect to use the generated outcome also in their own products on battery and BMS testing on battery test benches. The potential impact in the five years after the project is the roll-out of the innovative BMS solutions in the growing EV automotive sector.
On the societal front, the first steps are to involve policy makers and the European public. Once the NEXTBMS project is completed, concrete steps can be taken in the further development of new generation BMSs. The consortium will inform policy makers and European (battery project) platforms like BATT4EU and BRING, so they can assess the information (e.g. to get a better view on the impact of future enhanced physiochemically BMS models) and adjust future research calls or guidelines in their policies. By promoting the innovations, the European public can learn what has been achieved, and what these innovations mean for the battery cells and battery packs that will become available on the market.
On the scientific front, the research partners will take the NEXTBMS innovations and develop them further for other battery management systems for other applications, such as the elaboration of the approach (applying equivalent circuit models with physicochemical consistency for batteries) to make it more applicable (bring it to a higher TRL > 4), to improve the quality of battery passports regarding failures and availability of mission critical data, and to provide a more reliable system. Also, thanks to its accessibility and growth potential, the NEXTBMS battery management enhanced circuit model will result in the knowledge transfer in advanced BMS modelling and HW development and open a direct pathway between researchers and industrial partners. The exploration of NEXTBMS’s systems supports EU applied research activities and the development of flexible and adaptable BMS topologies, components, data links and control standards as a common basis for efficient development pipelines and final cost benefits for every kind of user in the entire society.
